Storing and managing information which must be retained for long periods of time is becoming more and more challenging for many enterprises and end users. Regulatory requirements have been strengthened, and require that information be retained for longer periods of time in a non-erasable and non-rewritable manner (WORM). In addition, the amount of information is ever increasing. The risk of losing information, or losing access to that information, is increasing due to the complexity of information technology infrastructure. Prior art methods utilize systems for data retention management and archiving consisting of a document management system and an archiving storage.
Typically, a document management system creates indices for the stored information to facilitate later searches and audits. These indices include specifics about the information itself, e.g. its context, creation date, retention times, storage location, relations to other information and user information. Such document management system indices are often referring to as “meta data.”
Prior art systems and methods disadvantageously store and manage the meta data and the information separately. Such prior art methods actually render the information vulnerable because by mishandling the indices the document management system may effectively render the information inaccessible. To cure these deficiencies of the prior art, Applicants' fossilized data management apparatus, and method using that system, stores the information and the meta data in a non-rewritable and non-erasable manner in order that both can be accessed, read, and interpreted years later. Alternatively the information and meta data is stored in a rewritable and erasable format. For purposes of this Application, by “fossilized data” Applicants mean information in combination with meta data associated with that information.